EU Grants and Loans

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 70-1W, on EU grants and loans, how much of the above-Barnett formula additions were actually received by the Welsh Assembly in each year.

Peter Hain: The UK Government granted spending permission to the National Assembly for Wales on top of its Barnett determined budget to allow it to draw down its full allocation of EU Structural Funds in the 2000-06 round.
	The actual detail and timing of those draw downs were a matter for the National Assembly itself.

Postal Services

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the future of mail and post office services in Scotland.

Ann McKechin: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a range of issues.
	Government are committed to a stable and sustainable post office network. Since 1999, Government have invested £3.7 billion in the Post Office including an annual subsidy of £150 million to 2011 to support 7,500 branches that may not survive without public support.

A13

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans London Gateway Port has to fund improvements to the A13/M25 junction.

Paul Clark: Improvements to Junction 30 of the M25 with the A13 are required as conditions of planning consent for London Gateway. Funding of the improvements is a matter for London Gateway Port Ltd. in liaison with the Highways Agency.

Aviation

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has issued guidance to airlines on use of pitot tubes on medium and long haul jets.

Paul Clark: Civil aviation safety in the UK is regulated by independent aviation safety regulators: the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). As such the Department for Transport does not itself issue guidance.
	EASA has been responsible for the regulation of aircraft design issues since 2003, as set out in Regulation (EC) 216/2008. On 9 June 2009, EASA issued a Safety Information Bulletin (SIB) that refers to the pitot system of the aircraft involved in the Air France accident on 1 June 2009. The bulletin reminds operators of the need to ensure that flight crew are fully familiar with procedures associated with unreliable airspeed indications. The UK CAA supports this SIB and will continue to work with EASA and UK airlines on this matter as further information from the investigation emerges.

Crossrail Line: Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the sum which the London supplementary business rate for Crossrail will raise in gross revenue in each year of its operation; and what percentage of the cost of the project this contribution represents.

Sadiq Khan: The funding package for Crossrail announced by the Prime Minister in October 2007 reflects a contribution of £4.1 billion in relation to the Business Rate Supplement, £3.5 billion of which will be borrowed by the Mayor of London against the revenues to be raised from a business rate supplement in the future and the remaining estimated £600 million being business rate supplement revenues to be contributed directly to the project during the period of construction.
	The Crossrail Sponsors Agreement (signed by Transport for London and the Department for Transport in December 2008) includes a forecast profile of the year on year amounts to be raised by the Mayor through the Crossrail business rate supplement to support his contribution to the project. However, the forecast profile was not published in the redacted form of the Sponsors Agreement laid in the Library of the House last December. This was due to the commercial sensitivities around the year on year funding detail of the project as a whole, with the majority of contracts still to be let and with agreements to be reached with lenders.
	It is for the Mayor to determine his approach to raising a business rate supplement for Crossrail, within the framework to be set out by legislation, and to determine the gross revenue to be raised in each year of its operation. Under schedule 1 of the Business Rate Supplements Bill, which is currently being considered by Parliament, the Mayor will be required to set out a wide range of information in a prospectus to be used as the basis for consulting on the proposal to levy a business rate supplement. This information will include project costs and estimates of the amount of money the Mayor expects to raise from the business rate supplement year on year.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

John Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2009,  Official Report, column 295W, on departmental conditions of employment, what his most recent estimate is of the cost of modifying systems in his Department's shared service centre to accommodate the workings of the flexible benefits project.

Chris Mole: The cost of modifying systems in the Department for Transport's shared service centre to accommodate the workings of the flexible benefits project is £62,700. This includes architecture changes, programming and payroll reconfiguration.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

John Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2009,  Official Report, column 485W, on departmental conditions of employment, on what calculations the estimate that the level of take-up required to break even with the scheme is about two per cent. over three years was based.

Chris Mole: The cost of implementing and administering flexible benefits over three years is £173,000, including reconfiguration of the shared services centre system. To break even with the scheme will require a 2 per cent. take-up of the benefits we are considering, which equates to an estimated annual spend of £535,000, with aggregated employer national insurance contribution savings of £183,000 over three years. The costing model has been verified by Deloitte who are acting as our benefit consultants.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has spent on hiring non-departmental premises for  (a) hospitality and entertainment and  (b) training events in the last 12 months.

Chris Mole: In the most recent completed financial year, 2008-09, the Department for Transport's agencies spent £12,700 on hiring non-departmental premises in respect of hospitality and entertainment and £369,468 in respect of training events.
	The accounting systems of the core Department do not record such costs separately from other related expenditure, so the information sought cannot be provided without disproportional cost.

Driving Tests: Motorcycles

Louise Ellman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the arrangements for the safety of candidates taking the Module One motorcycle test; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: In order to design a safe off-road manoeuvre test to comply with the European Directive, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) undertook trials and risk assessments involving rider training organisations. The Agency tested the proposals in public consultation and benchmarked ideas with comparable organisations in other member states.
	Prior to the introduction of the two part motorcycle test, DSA carried out a risk assessment of both Modules of the new test.
	This included assessments and identification of appropriate controls of the testing area, including the boundaries and the surface of the off-road manoeuvring area. The level of preparedness of test candidates was also assessed.
	Copies of the risk assessment have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

London and Continental Railways

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 24-26WS, on London and Continental Railways, what estimate he has made of the monetary value of  (a) St. Pancras International station and  (b) the high speed rail line from St. Pancras International station to the Channel Tunnel.

Chris Mole: The Government are currently engaged in a restructuring of London and Continental Railways. Following this, it is the Government's intention, as market conditions allow, to sell a long-term concession for High Speed 1 in such a way as to maximise value for money for the taxpayer.
	The estimate of the expected proceeds is commercially confidential and to publish the information might condition the competitive sale process and damage value.

London and Continental Railways

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 24-26WS, on London and Continental Railways, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of restructuring  (a) HS1 Ltd and  (b) the UK's interest in Eurostar.

Chris Mole: The restructuring of London and Continental Railways (LCR) announced on 8 June 2009 involved no further commitment of public funds over and above those committed during the restructurings of the company in 1998, 2001 and 2002.
	The current financial restructuring provides for the redistribution of support already committed to allow LCR's subsidiary businesses to be established on a stand-alone commercial basis. This will allow the value of those businesses to be realised in due course with a commensurate reduction in the overall level of state support.

Railways

Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what his most recent assessment is of the capacity of the existing rail network for  (a) passenger and  (b) freight services.

Chris Mole: During the preparation of the 2007 Rail White Paper, the Government carried out assessments of the adequacy of the capacity of the rail network. The assessments drew on work carried out by the rail industry, and the outcome is published in the 2007 Rail White Paper 'Delivering a Sustainable Railway' available from the Department for Transport website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/whitepapers/whitepapercm7176
	Since its publication, the Government asked Network Rail to undertake a new lines study to identify longer term capacity requirements.
	Initial results from Network Rail's study indicated a long-term capacity gap from London to the West Midlands, which is why we have tasked High Speed Two to advise on the feasibility of a new high speed line from London to the West Midlands as a first stage, and beyond the West Midlands at the level of broad corridors.

Railways: Fares

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of an assumption of an increase in unregulated rail fares of RPI plus one per cent. in each franchise contract  (a) in January 2010 and  (b) at the renewal date of each franchise.

Chris Mole: holding answer 16 June 2009
	The levels of unregulated fares are a commercial matter for individual train operators. For business planning purposes operators may make assumptions of any projected changes to unregulated fares, but this is a matter for the operator concerned.

Railways: Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what funding his Department is providing for community rail partnerships in 2009-10.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not provide core funding for Community Rail Partnerships which are essentially local organisations and therefore locally funded.
	However, through the franchising process and grants to Network Rail, the Department provides funding for the services promoted by partnerships. It also provides core funding for the national umbrella body representing and supporting partnerships, the Association of Community Rail Partnerships. Working with Network Rail, the Department makes available small grants to contribute towards specific projects such as promotions and small scale station improvements. It will also be making grants to assist with training and development of employees for Community Rail Partnerships on officially designated routes.

Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the effects of his Department's infrastructure grant programme on progress towards meeting targets on renewable sources for transport fuel use.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport's principle policy for delivering progress towards meeting targets on renewable sources for transport fuel use is the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Grant Programme is designed to trial and demonstrate infrastructure to support a range of alternatively fuelled vehicles.

Roads: Accidents

Andrew George: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2009,  Official Report, columns 773-74W, on roads: accidents, what the combined duration of road closures in each police force area in the south west was  (a) from July to December 2005,  (b) in 2006,  (c) in 2007,  (d) in 2008 and  (e) in 2009 to date.

Chris Mole: The table provides the combined duration of road closures, due to road traffic accidents by police force area in the south west for each area of the periods requested.
	The information available is for road traffic accidents where the police have requested Highways Agency involvement. No data are held for those occurrences where the police have dealt with an accident alone.
	
		
			  Motorways by police force area from July 2005 onwards 
			   Duration of road closures in hours/minutes on motorways per year 
			  Police force area  July 2005 onwards  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 Avon and Somerset 34:45 37:04 82:30 54:30 11:30 
			 Wiltshire n/a 11:50 21:05 38:15 4:25 
			 Gloucester 15:05 13:55 60:35 32:30 1:50 
			 Devon and Cornwall 0:30 2:30 11:10 6:25 0:55

Roads: Accidents

Andrew George: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2009,  Official Report, columns 773-74W, on roads: accidents, what the combined duration of road closures on each trunk road referred to was  (a) in the period July to December 2005,  (b) in 2006,  (c) in 2007,  (d) in 2008 and  (e) in the period January to June 2009.

Chris Mole: The table provides the combined duration of road closures due to road traffic accidents for each trunk road in each of the periods requested.
	The information available is for road traffic accidents where the police have requested Highways Agency involvement. No data are held for those occurrences where the police have dealt with an accident alone. Also, the data available for all purpose trunk roads west of Exeter are from autumn 2006 onwards, and from July 2005 for other Highways Agency roads in the south west network.
	
		
			  All purpose trunk roads 
			   Duration of road closures in hours/minutes on all purpose trunk roads per year 
			  Trunk road number  July to December 2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 A30/A35 DBFO 0 28:40 43:25 50:40 22:30 
			 A30 Non DBFO n/k 14:50 83:30 136:10 44:50 
			 A38 n/k 3:25 63:30 138:20 61:15 
			 A417/A419 DBFO 5:30 11:30 21:00 19:00 5:30 
			 A36 9:15 26:20 60:00 8:50 20:15 
			 A303 12:40 89:10 109:20 61:10 7:45 
			 A30 East of Honiton 1:10 0 0 4:55 0 
			 A4 14:10 0 2:25 0 0 
			 A40 15:10 13:50 6:50 9:20 5:25 
			 A46 11:30 14:50 23:00 12:00 5:00 
			 n/k = Not known

Shipping

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1729W, on shipping, when he expects to decide whether to conduct a second consultation exercise on the draft regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: During the summer, consideration will be given by the Department for Transport, as to whether a second consultation will be required on draft regulations to control ship to ship transfers of oil in UK territorial waters taking account of comments made by consultees.

Shipping: Accidents

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will commission the Health and Safety Executive to undertake research into the circumstances surrounding the capsize of  (a) offshore oil-rig support tugs and  (b) other vessels in UK and international waters in the last five years for the purposes of improving safety measures in relation to escape routes from such vessels.

Paul Clark: The safety of vessels, including offshore oil-rig support tugs is a matter for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) rather than the Health and Safety Executive.
	A comprehensive review of the circumstances surrounding the capsize of an offshore oil-rig support tug has been completed recently by the Norwegian maritime administration. The conclusions of this review are to be incorporated as appropriate into the "North West European Area Guidelines for the Safe Management of Offshore Supply and Anchor Handling Operations" (NWEA Guidelines) and into international safety regulations under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation.
	The MCA fully endorses the outcome of the Norwegian review, welcomes the improvements to the NWEA Guidelines and believes that further research would not enhance what has already been done recently in this area. In particular, it is considered that current requirements for escape routes from ships are adequate for the risks faced, and that special escape routes from capsized vessels would be impractical and might even increase risk to lives and vessels.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 19W, on speed limits: cameras, whether he has established a regular programme of evaluation of speed cameras.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport seeks to identify and disseminate examples of good practice across the road safety field generally. In addition, the Department's guidance on the use of safety cameras recommends that speed and collision data are collected by the partnerships and the contribution cameras make to casualty reduction monitored and reviewed, at least annually.

Members: Correspondence

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to reply to the letter of 14 February 2009 from Mr. Colin Adams of Newport Pagnell, a constituent of the hon. Member for North East Milton Keynes.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	The British embassy in Moscow replied direct to Mr. Adams' letter to the Foreign Secretary, which was dated 16 February 2009, on 5 March 2009.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to reply to the letter of 5 May 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms J Wilkinson.

David Miliband: I replied to my right hon. Friend's letter on 10 June 2009.

Serbia: War Crimes

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Serbia's levels of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in light of Chief Hague Prosecutor Serge Brammertz's report of 21 May 2009; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Government share the assessment of Chief Prosecutor Senga Poranitz, as set out to the UN Security Council on 4 June 2009, and EU Foreign Ministers on 15 June 2009, that Serbia's level of co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has significantly improved in the last 12 months.

Animal Experiments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the chemicals industry on minimising levels of animal testing in the development of new chemical products.

Dan Norris: My predecessor Huw Irranca-Davies had regular meetings with representatives of the chemicals industry and other interested stakeholders to discuss a wide range of subjects, including animal testing.
	Regulation of chemicals in the EU is now co-ordinated through REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals). REACH has a clear aim to minimise the use of animal testing and includes the means to achieve that. It makes animal testing the option of last resort where there are no suitable non-animal alternative tests available, requires the mandatory sharing of all existing data on the intrinsic properties of chemicals derived from animal tests when completing registrations, and bans repetition of animal tests. In addition, industry has to provide a full justification if further animal tests are proposed to fill identified data gaps, and gain the approval of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) before such tests may be conducted. Test proposals are required to be published on ECHA's website for 45 days, to allow interested third parties to submit scientifically-valid comments.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 22 April 2009,  Official Report, column 701W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, for what reasons the Waste and Resources Action Programme has ceased subsidising compost bins.

Dan Norris: The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) stopped subsidising compost bins in England in April 2009 and will cease selling compost bins completely there at the end of September 2009. Notice has been given to all stakeholders of this change.
	Since its inception in 2004, the programme has sold and distributed 1.8 million compost bins in England which are estimated to divert 250,000 tonnes of organic waste each year. The programme has therefore met its original objectives and demonstrated the value of home composting as part of a local waste strategy. It was appropriate at this stage for the issue of future subsidies to become one for local authorities rather than central Government to decide.

Waste Management

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer to Baroness Warsi of 11 May 2009,  Official Report, House of Lords, column WA177, on waste management, for what reasons a clarification of published policy was undertaken; and what account he took of rulings of the Local Government Ombudsman in his decision to amend section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Dan Norris: The reason for amending section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 was to provide a single point of reference in legislation for local authorities. As part of any decision-making process, the Secretary of State always takes account of relevant rulings of the Ombudsman.

Water Companies: Renewable Energy

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment Ofwat has made of the level of investment in renewable energy infrastructure by water companies.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In water companies' draft business plan submissions to Ofwat there were significant investments related to renewable energy. Ofwat assessed the draft business plans and allowed a significant amount of renewable energy related investment. This would lead to a 40 per cent. increase in the amount of renewable energy generated by the companies. Most of this increase comes from additional production of biogas from sludge treatment and a growth in combined heat and power (CHP) capacity.
	Ofwat are currently reviewing the final business plan submissions from water companies. The outcome of their review will be made available on 23 July.

Whales: Conservation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government is taking to secure a comprehensive ban on whaling by the Japanese government; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The UK Government will continue to make their opposition to whaling known to Japan at every appropriate opportunity and argue that they undermine the credibility of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as an effective organisation for the conservation of whale stocks world-wide.
	Unfortunately the right of any Contracting Government to the IWC to issue 'Special permits' and to conduct lethal research into whaling is enshrined in Article VIII of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW).
	At the next annual meeting of the IWC in June, 2009 (IWC61) the UK will once again call on Japan to cease its lethal whaling operations and engage in the non-lethal research of whales.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to answer Question 270193, tabled on 17 April 2009, on domestic waste recycling.

Dan Norris: The answer to Question 270193 appeared on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 89W. I apologise for the delay in replying.

Antisocial Behaviour: East of England

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will estimate the cost to the  (a) economy and  (b) public purse of anti-social behaviour in each local authority area in the East of England region in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how much has been spent by each local authority in the East of England region per head of population on tackling anti-social behaviour in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: In 2003, the Home Office undertook a one day count of antisocial behaviour incidents to quantify their impact on key service providers. This estimated that the cost to Government agencies of responding to reports of antisocial behaviour in England and Wales was approximately £3.4 billion per year. This figure did not include indirect costs to local communities and businesses, nor the emotional costs to victims and witnesses. The cost of not taking action against antisocial behaviour would be much higher.
	Information on the amount spent by local authorities, including those in the eastern region, on tackling antisocial behaviour is not collected centrally. Home Office funding for local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour now forms part of the general Area Based Grant (ABG) paid by the Department of Communities and Local Government. This grant is designed to increase the funding flexibility and allow local areas much greater freedom to spend money in a way they see fit to support the delivery of local, regional and national priorities in their areas.
	Other Home Office led activities also act to tackle antisocial behaviour, for example the introduction of community support officers in the eastern region, but a monetary value cannot be assigned to that contribution. Similarly, other programmes and services contribute, sometimes indirectly, to tackling antisocial behaviour, including diversionary activities for young people, neighbourhood wardens, as well as neighbourhood policing and neighbourhood management.

Antisocial Behaviour: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many  (a) anti-social behaviour orders and  (b) acceptable behaviour contracts have been issued in (i) Tameside and (ii) Stockport in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what steps are being taken to reduce levels of anti-social behaviour in  (a) Tameside and  (b) Stockport.

Alan Campbell: The latest available data on antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) covers the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2006. Between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2006, 225 ASBOs were issued at all courts in the Greater Manchester Criminal Justice System (CJS) area. Data on the number of ASBOs issued are not available below CJS area level.
	The number of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) is collected by the Home Office through a voluntary survey of crime and disorder reduction partnerships' (CDRPs) use of antisocial behaviour tools and powers. The latest data published indicate that over 30,000 ABCs have been made between October 2003 and September 2007, with over 5,150 issued in the north-west region during the same period. Currently, data on the number of ABCs issued are not available below regional level.
	We have provided practitioners with a toolkit to tackle antisocial behaviour, which they operate according to local priorities and a practitioner website and advice line. Specifically in Tameside and Stockport, multidisciplinary antisocial behaviour teams operate many initiatives based on prevention and enforcement that engage, educate and promote awareness among young people, engage with residents and tackle antisocial behaviour in families. Stockport operates an antisocial behaviour hotline where members of the public can call and report antisocial behaviour. These cases are then allocated to one of the four ASB caseworkers to investigate and respond. Tameside were rated as an excellent four star authority by the Audit Commission's corporate assessment of the partnership's work around tackling antisocial behaviour.

Human Trafficking

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1227-28W, on human trafficking, how many of those foreign nationals convicted for human trafficking offences were deported on the completion of their sentence.

Alan Campbell: To date there have been 106 convictions for trafficking for sexual exploitation, five for trafficking for forced labour and three for conspiracy to traffick. Of these convictions recorded by the UK Human Trafficking Centre 25 people have been deported with a further 35 having received recommendations for deportation at the end of their sentence.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter dated 5 January 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mr. A. Hamid.

Alan Johnson: My right hon. Friend the former Home Secretary (Jacqui Smith), wrote to my right hon. Friend on 20 April 2009.

Members: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the UK Border Agency's MPs' Parliamentary Business Unit plans to reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West's correspondence of 13 May 2009 on his constituent Mrs. Florence Kpakiwa.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency wrote to the hon. Gentleman on 12 June 2009.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 29 April 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Florence Lolonyo Ami Kpodo.

Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 16 June 2009.

Personal Records: Data Protection

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Epping Forest of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 174W, on personal records: data protection, what the eight data fields of advance passenger information are that the e-borders system will capture

Alan Johnson: The e-Borders system requires carriers to provide the data contained in the machine readable zone (MRZ) of a passport. The eight data fields are:
	Name
	Date of birth
	Nationality
	Gender
	Travel document type
	State of issue
	Passport number
	Passport expiry date.
	This information has been checked at the UK border for many years, e-Borders allows this check to take place before travel into or out of the country.

Travel Restrictions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with the US administration on the creation of the list of foreign nationals barred from entry to the UK, with particular reference to the inclusion of Michael Savage on that list.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office did not consult the US Administration about the creation of the list of foreign nationals who are excluded from the United Kingdom on unacceptable behaviour grounds, which included US citizen, Michael Savage. However following publication of the list on 5 May, Home Office and FCO officials have discussed the Government's policy on exclusion with American officials.

Council Tax: Valuation

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 7 May 2009,  Official Report, column 384W, on council tax: valuation, what types of property data are provided to the Valuation Office Agency by the Stamp Duty Office of HM Revenue and Customs.

Stephen Timms: The property data supplied by the Stamp Taxes Office to the Valuation Office Agency are all such data contained within the stamp duty land transaction return, which is online at:
	http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kbroker/hmrc/forms/viewform.jsp?formld=932

Geographical Information Systems: Procurement

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which companies have been awarded the contracts under OGC.buying solutions contract tender Reference RM 341, on geographic information services and solutions; and which public bodies are purchasing geographical information under the contracts.

Ian Pearson: Suppliers awarded contracts under Buying Solutions' contract tender references RM 341 Geographic Information Services and Solutions can be found at
	http://www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk/frameworks/full.html?list_by=name&contract_search=GISS&search=search
	The public bodies currently using the GISS framework to purchase GI services and data are:
	 Lot 1: Geographic Information Solutions
	CEH Wallingford (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)
	Centre of Ecology and Hydrology
	Cheshire Police Authority
	Consumer Focus
	Cumbria Constabulary
	Department for Communities and Local Government
	Department for Work and Pensions
	Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
	Devon and Cornwall Constabulary
	Electoral Commission
	English Heritage
	Environment Agency
	External Supply Group, DWP
	Government Communications Planning Directorate
	HM Revenue and Customs
	London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
	National Offender Management Service
	NHS Connecting for Health
	Office of Government Commerce
	Renfrewshire Council
	South Yorkshire Police Authority
	 Lot 2: Map Making Services
	Ministry of Defence CinCFIeet
	 Lot 3: Data Capture, Analysis and Manipulations Services
	Animal Health
	Department for Communities and Local Government
	Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs
	Environment Agency
	HM Revenue and Customs
	Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
	South Cambridgeshire District Council

Housing: Valuation

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1006W, on the Valuation Office: South East, 
	(1)  if he will rank each individual locality reference in each valuation area in the East Midlands according to its value significance;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1043W, on Council Tax: Valuation, if he will rank each individual locality reference in each valuation area in the West Midlands according to its value significance.

Stephen Timms: A list of locality reference numbers, ranked in order of value significance by valuation area within the Valuation Office Agency's West Midlands Group, has been placed in the Library. The list is based on data extracted between 27 February 2009 and 2 March 2009.
	Information that identifies the extent and location of each locality, relative to the list of numbers that ranks each individual locality, is commercially confidential.

Housing: Valuation

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1043W, on council tax: valuation, what the average number of dwellings is in each locality group in England.

Stephen Timms: On 11 June 2009, the average number of dwellings per locality group in England was 5,809.

Public Sector: Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 1390-91W, on public sector pensions, what estimate he made of the cost to his Department of calculating a revised estimate of the potential net saving in employer costs for the pension schemes for the NHS, teachers and Civil Service over the 50-year period.

Liam Byrne: Revised estimates of capitalised savings, such as were calculated in 2005 before scheme reforms were fully developed, are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The packages of reforms vary considerably between schemes, as will the effects on employer pension contributions and payments of pension benefits. Detailed questions about the financial effects are for the Departments responsible for the schemes.

Regional Economic Council

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1046W, on the Regional Economic Council, what the name of each local government representative is.

Ian Pearson: Local authorities are represented at the Regional Economic Council by the Chair of the Local Government Association and by regional representatives nominated by the Local Government Association. These representatives are drawn from members of the LGA, but are selected in advance of each meeting. It is not, therefore, possible to list members names.

Revenue and Customs: Standards

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target has been set in respect of the time taken by HM Revenue and Customs to process a claim for  (a) a National Insurance contribution refund,  (b) an inheritance tax refund and  (c) a capital gains tax refund; and what the (i) average and (ii) maximum time taken to process such a claim was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: Both national insurance contribution refunds and inheritance tax repayments are processed in line with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) departmental objective 2, i.e. 80 per cent. of cases to be cleared within 15 working days and 95 per cent. to be cleared within 40 working days. These targets were met in 2008-09.
	All repayments due for capital gains tax are made under the self assessment system. Refunds made from online self assessment returns are normally made within seven days. For paper returns HMRC identify returns on receipt marked 'repayment' and process these as priority. HMRC seek to strike a balance between issuing repayments as quickly as possible for the benefit of customers and ensuring Exchequer protection.

Valuation Office: Northern Ireland Land and Property Services

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1049W, on the Valuation Office: Northern Ireland Land and Property Services, if he will place in the Library a copy of minutes of the  (a) 47th,  (b) 48th and  (c) 49th meetings.

Stephen Timms: A copy of the minutes of the 49th meeting of the Steering Committee on Harmonisation (Practice and Procedure) England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland will be placed in the Library.
	For the minutes of the 47th and 48th meetings I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 19 May 2009,  Official Report, columns 1369-70W.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements there are for the training of RAF pilots in air-to-air refuelling techniques before Tornado GR4s deploy to Afghanistan.

Bill Rammell: All RAF crews deploying on Op Herrick are fully combat ready. Combat ready aircrew training for the Tornado GR4 includes full training for air-to-air refuelling.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2009,  Official Report, column 828W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, what his estimate is of the number of troops likely to be required by Regional Command South in October 2009.

Bob Ainsworth: Troop levels within Regional Command (South) are a matter for ISAF.

Ex-servicemen: Suicide

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will commission further research on  (a) the incidence of suicide among former service personnel and  (b) the merits of psychological autopsies in cases of suicide among such personnel.

Kevan Jones: The Department presently has no plans to commission research into the incidence of suicide among veterans, including psychological autopsies.
	We do however take a close interest in the health of those leaving the services. In 2003, the Department commissioned Kings College, London, to undertake a study of the health outcomes for some 20,000 personnel deployed to Iraq or in a non-deployed comparator group. This includes analysis of mental health outcomes which so far shows that generally there is not a higher incidence of mental health problems among those deployed. We will continue to monitor carefully the research, which has now been extended to cover in addition personnel deployed to Afghanistan. In addition, scrutiny of international peer reviewed literature takes place when it is published.

Military Bases

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated  (a) market value and  (b) area is of (i) DCSA Inskip, Preston, (ii) RAF Church Fenton, Tadcaster, (iii) RAF Syerston, (iv) RAF Watton, (v) TAC Worcester, (vi) Vauxhall Barracks, Didcot, (vii) Aldershot Garrison, (viii) RAF High Wycombe, (ix) HMS Daedalus, Gosport and Fareham, (x) Anzio Barracks, Leek, (xi) HMS Forest Moor, Harrogate, (xii) RAF West Raynham, (xiii) RAF Newton, (xiv) RAF Alconbury, (xv) RAF Halton, Wendover, (xvi) RAF Brize Norton, Bicester, (xvii) DMC Dean Hill, West Dean, (xviii) RAF Chilmark, Salisbury, (xix) Connaught Barracks and (xx) Roussillon Barracks; and which of these sites is (A) redundant (B) expected to become redundant.

Kevan Jones: The potential market value of sites is usually only assessed when they become surplus. However, it is our practice not to release the estimated sale value of surplus sites as to do so might influence the market.
	The MOD's long-term Defence Estate Development Plan (DEDP), which can be found on the MOD internet at
	http://www.defence-estates.mod.uk/publications/dedp08.php
	classifies the Department's sites in three categories; core, retained, or disposal estate.
	The other requested information for the sites listed is as follows:
	
		
			  Site name  Surplus to defence requirements (yes/no/part)  Expected to become surplus to defence requirements (yes/no) and estimated date if known  Estimated disposal area ( hectares)  Comment 
			 DCSA Inskip No No — — 
			 RAF Church Fenton Part — 13 Technical site for disposal (13.45 ha) 
			 RAF Syerston No No — — 
			 RAF Watton Sold in part 1998 — — Technical areas sold airfield retained for Training purposes 
			 TAC Worcester No — 0.15 Site will be sold to facilitate town centre redevelopment, subject to reprovision 
			 Vauxhall Barracks No tbc 10 — 
			 Aldershot Garrison Part — 163 50 per cent. for disposal at present (Aldershot Urban extension) to be followed by further tranche in about 3 years 
			 RAF High Wycombe No No — — 
			 HMS Daedalus Sold 2005 — — — 
			 Anzio Barracks Sold 2006 — — — 
			 HMS Forest Moor Part — 8 Admin area for disposal 
			 RAF West Raynham Sold 2006 — — — 
			 RAF Newton Yes — 136 Technical area sold 2005. Airfield surplus and subject to sale to Crown Estate 
			 RAF Alconbury Part — 414 Technical areas occupied by USVF. Airfield held via Joint Venture for future disposal and development 
			 RAF Halton Part — 1 Former Officers' Mess for disposal 
			 RAF Brize Norton No No — — 
			 DMC Dean Hill Part — 15 Majority sold- two areas available (13 ha and 2 ha) 
			 RAF Chilmark Yes — 27 Balance of site for disposal 
			 Connaught Barracks Sold 2007 — 24 Sold to HCA 
			 Rousillon Barracks Sold 2007 Yes-tbc 0.7 Majority sold to HCA—but further tranche awaited.

Olympic Games 2012: Football

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make an assessment of the likely effect on  (a) women's and  (b) disabled people's football of fielding a football Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics.

Ben Bradshaw: The fielding of women's and paralympic GB football teams would provide a unique opportunity to showcase and strengthen the women's and disabled games, from the grass roots through to the elite.
	As the host nation, a women's and a disabled team would automatically qualify. The Government would like to see the best possible teams taking part to provide Team GB with every opportunity to achieve the ambitious medal targets for the Paralympic and Olympic games in 2012, and to provide inspiration to the next generation of those taking part in women's and disabled football.

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made.

Joan Ruddock: Under the mandatory requirements of the Data Handling Report published on 25 June 2008, DECC is required to give a summary report on data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner in our annual resource accounts.
	We will be publishing information on personal data security breaches reported to the Information Commissioner for the 2008-09 reporting year before Parliament rises in July. The information is currently being compiled and is to be audited and verified before it is laid before Parliament.

Departmental Manpower

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2008,  Official Report, column 628W, on departmental personnel, how many Civil Service fast streamers are in post in his Department.

Joan Ruddock: DECC was formed from the Climate Change Directorates from DEFRA and the Energy Group from what was then BERR, now BIS. DECC inherited 17 Fast streamers from BERR and 30 from DEFRA. The total number of fast streamers currently working in DECC is 47.

Fuel Poverty: North West

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1481W, on fuel poverty, what the reasons are for the relatively high number of fuel poor households in the North West; and whether his Department has any region-specific programmes in place to rectify the situation.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 11 June 2009
	In 2006, the latest year for which fuel poverty estimates are available, 14.2 per cent. of households in the north-west were fuel poor. In England as a whole, in the same period, 11.5 per cent. of all households were fuel poor. Table 1 refers.
	
		
			  Table 1: Fuel Poverty figures ,  2006, by Government office region 
			  Government office region  Percentage of fuel poor households in region  Number of fuel poor households in region (thousand) 
			 North East 16.4 179 
			 North West 14.2 415 
			 West Midlands 13.7 304 
			 East Midlands 12.9 236 
			 Yorks and Humber 12.7 273 
			 South West 11.6 256 
			 East England 9.7 224 
			 South East 8.5 291 
			 London 8.3 254 
			 England 11.5 2,432 
		
	
	Fuel poverty is caused by the interaction of three things: income, fuel prices and energy efficiency. Therefore, households with low income or very high energy bills are more prone to being fuel poor. In 2006, average household income for households in the north-west was below that of England as a whole, while the average energy efficiency rating, as measured by SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) was similar to that for England overall.
	The combination of national programmes such as Warm Front, CERT and Decent Homes and local programmes and delivery through local government, partnerships, energy suppliers, Eaga and NEA (such as Warm Zones and CEEF) are all important in tackling fuel poverty across England. Government do not direct programmes to specific areas but the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) programme to be launched this autumn is proposed to take place in areas of the lowest income decile as measured in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 28 April 2009, on an emissions performance standard for power generation.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 12 June 2009
	 I apologise for the delay in responding and will do so shortly.

Renewable Energy: Housing

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what financial incentives his Department provides to encourage the  (a) construction and  (b) adaptation of homes to incorporate (i) renewable energy technologies and (ii) sustainable building materials.

Joan Ruddock: The Government play an important role in providing incentives to increase take-up of small scale renewable on-site energy technologies. These technologies have a key role to play in meeting our 2020 renewable targets, and will be essential in achieving our legally binding 2050 target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent. Presently, the main sources of financial support for these technologies come from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) and the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT).
	The LCBP is an £86 million capital grant programme supporting households, communities and the public sector to install small scale onsite energy technologies. A further £45 million was allocated to the programme in Budget 2009, bringing total funding to £131 million. The programme aims to demonstrate how energy efficiency and onsite energy technologies can be combined in a range of buildings to reduce carbon emissions.
	To incentivise the installation of microgeneration under CERT, the scheme provides suppliers with a ring-fenced market transformation option which allows them to achieve up to 12 per cent. of their overall CERT target by promoting measures for which there is not yet a developed market. To further incentivise microgeneration, suppliers may increase this market transformation ring-fence by a further 2 per cent. by promoting microgeneration measures; suppliers receive a 50 per cent. uplift in their carbon score within the ring-fence for this.
	The LCBP and CERT have made an important contribution to developing a market for low-carbon small-scale generation in the UK. However, we fully acknowledge that we need to go much further if we are to meet our long-term goals. That is why we included powers in the Energy Act 2008 to introduce feed-in tariffs (FITs) for small-scale low-carbon electricity generation (up to a maximum limit of 5 megawatt capacity) through changes to electricity distribution and supply licences. We are currently working to develop recommendations on the design of the mechanism, including the tariff levels and the period during which they will apply, the detail of which we will consult on this summer. We have committed to have feed-in tariffs in place in April 2010.
	Powers in the Energy Act also enable a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to be set up. The powers allow the RHI to provide financial assistance to generators of renewable heat, and producers of renewable biogas and biomethane. The incentive payments will be funded by a levy on suppliers of fossil fuels for heat. Our aim is to make the RHI as accessible, flexible and user-friendly as possible to potential investors in renewable heat at all scales, from domestic to industrial. We are currently working to develop the main features of the RHI scheme, which we will consult on towards the end of this year, and aim to have the RHI in place by April 2011.
	In terms of renewable building materials, we provide funding and support for research and dissemination of technology development and information. This Department has part-funded the Renewable House at the Building Research Establishment in Watford which showcases renewable construction technologies on a domestic scale.
	The Government also encourage the use of sustainable materials through tightening of Building Regulations. Significantly, we have made a commitment that all new homes must be zero carbon from 2016. To support this ambition the Government launched the Code for Sustainable Homes, which rates a home on a 'whole house' basis with a one to six star rating. The code scores new properties against nine categories, which, in addition to use of sustainable materials, include energy, water, waste and ecology.
	The code is voluntary for private sector builders however, if Government are funding the development, or if the development is being built on Government land code level 3 must be attained. Homes built to this standard must have a 25 per cent. improvement in energy efficiency over current Building Regulations, which may require the inclusion of renewable energy generation, and will include the use of materials with a lower environmental impact.

Departmental Pay

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff employed in London on work contracted out by her Department earn less than £7.45 per hour.

Jim Knight: The number of staff employed in London on work contracted out by the Department for Work and Pensions who earn less than the London Living wage of £7.45 is 673.

Employment Schemes

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have applied for a work trial placement in each of the last six months.

Jim Knight: Information on the number of people who have applied for a work trial in each of the last six months is not available. This is because customers do not, in the commonly accepted sense, 'apply' for a work trial. A work trial may be arranged by Jobcentre Plus if, at the end of the normal recruitment process for a current vacancy, either the employer or customer (or both) has any lingering doubts about suitability.
	Information on the number of work trial starts in each of the last six months is available and is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of work trial starts in each of the last six months 
			  Month  Number of starts 
			 December 2008 1,961 
			 January 2009 2,057 
			 February 2009 2,572 
			 March 2009 3,077 
			 April 2009 2,366 
			 May 2009 3,580 
			  Source: BOXI Management Information

Employment Services

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of the Jobcentre Plus Support contracts in each of the next three years.

Jim Knight: Current estimates are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2009-10 8 
			 2010-11 24 
			 2011-12 12 
		
	
	These figures are based on assessments made prior to the 2009 Budget. The Jobcentre Plus Support Contract is currently half way through a two stage procurement process. Detail on the breakdown of funding was set out in the Pre Qualifying Questionnaire (PQQ) information. Funding levels can be adjusted by DWP to reflect increased or decreased volumes.

Employment Services: Finance

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what budget her Department has allocated for  (a) new provision for newly unemployed (non-professional) support delivered by programme centres and  (b) support for newly unemployed professional and executive customers in 2009-10.

Jim Knight: The total budget allocated for  (a) new provision for newly unemployed (non-professional) support delivered by programme centres and  (b) support for newly unemployed professional and executive customers in 2009-10 is £17.0 million (£13.0 million for contracted one-day seminars and £4 million for Jobcentre Plus Group information sessions and follow-up interviews) and £3.0 million respectively. From December 2009 provision for newly unemployed (non-professional) support will be delivered via the new Jobcentre Plus Support Contracts and therefore a proportion of this budget will be used to fund the new contracts from this date.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Lincolnshire

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in  (a) Great Grimsby and  (b) Cleethorpes received JSA was in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in  (a) Great Grimsby and  (b) Cleethorpes received JSA in each of the last five years.
	(279270)
	Data on the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) is taken from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. The length of a claim has been calculated, as the time between the start of an individual's claim and that claim ending, for completed claims only. Table 1 shows the median length of completed claims ('off-flows') during the April count period in each of the last 5 years.
	
		
			  Table 1. Median length of completed cl aims (off-flows) of Jobseeker's  a llowance for claimants resident in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes parliamentary constituencies 
			  Months 
			  April each year  Great Grimsby  Cleethorpes 
			 2005 9.2 8.0 
			 2006 11.5 10.9 
			 2007 10.4 10.2 
			 2008 11.3 9.2 
			 2009 10.4 10.8 
			  Source:  Jobcentre Plus administrative system

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead of 17 November 2008,  Official Report, column 483W, on welfare state: EU enlargement, when she expects the report on the review of EEA nationals' access to benefits to be published.

Jim Knight: The main findings of the review were that there were robust rules already in place on EEA nationals' access to the benefit system but that a stronger test of employment prospects should be applied to EEA nationals claiming income based jobseeker's allowance, and that the Department's ability to monitor claims to benefit from EEA nationals should be improved. There are complex issues related to EU law to be considered before decisions can be reached on the way forward.

Cotswolds Conservation Board

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons the  (a) Cotswolds Conservation Board and  (b) Chilterns Conservation Board is not on the list of statutory consultees for national planning policy statements.

Ian Austin: AONB Conservation Boards are included within the list of statutory consultees for National Policy Statements. The Cotswolds and Chilterns Conservation Boards, by virtue of being such organisations, are thereby included. The full list is set out within Statutory Instrument No. 2009/1302 which comes into force on 22 June 2009.

Council Housing

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield of 27 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1104W, on council housing, if he will place in the Library a copy of each of the 98 written responses.

Ian Austin: Yes. Copies of the responses to the recent consultation on changes to the revenue and capital rules for council housing, will be placed in the Library when we have considered the responses and made final decisions on the exclusions process and criteria.

Council Tax: Statistics

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 29 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1340W, on statistics: council tax, for what reasons his Department has not responded to the UK Statistics Authority's notification of 6 January 2009 that it wished to assess and determine whether the Code of Practice for Official Statistics had been complied with in respect of statistics on council tax levels set by local authorities.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Following receipt of the UK Statistics Authority's letter, my officials met with the authority and agreed that no response to the letter was necessary until my Department has decided whether or not to seek designation. It was agreed that this decision would be taken later in the year.

Local Government Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans  (a) his Department and  (b) the Audit Commission has to review guidance to local authorities on investment policies.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Officials are working with the Audit Commission, CIPFA and the local authority associations to assess how the Department's investment guidance might be fine tuned in light of the report from the CLG Select Committee and the report of the Audit Commission on local authorities and Icelandic banks. The Department's guidance on local government investments is available at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/capital/data/lginvest2.pdf
	The Audit Commission does not issue guidance to authorities on investment policies.

Sheltered Housing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will provide guidance to local authorities on use by tenants in sheltered housing of individualised budgets for the employment of housing scheme managers in advance of the expected increase in take-up of direct payments in 2011.

Ian Austin: CLG will not be providing specific guidance to local authorities to encourage tenants in sheltered housing to move to individual budgets for the employment of housing scheme managers. Individual budgets have been developed to ensure that service users are empowered to choose the service which best suit their needs framework. Also providing guidance would not fit with the direction on devolution and increased decision making which authorities now have via the new local government framework.

Supporting People Scheme

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to ensure the continued operation of Handy Person schemes after 1 April 2010.

Ian Austin: CLG will provide £17 million dedicated funding for handypersons services, via a separate named grant, in 2010-11. This will be the second year of a two year programme to build capacity in the sector, announced in the Government's housing strategy for an ageing society, Lifetime homes, lifetime neighbourhoods.

Waste Management: Advisory Bodies

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1164W, on the Waste Regional Advisory Group, what the  (a) membership and  (b) remit of each waste regional advisory group is.

Rosie Winterton: Government Office membership and remit of waste regional advisory group is as in the following table.
	
		
			  GO  Membership  Remit 
			 East None East does not have a WRAG. 
			 West Midlands None West Midlands does not have a WRAG. 
			 London None London does not have a WRAG. 
			
			 North East Chaired by the Government Office for the North East. Advisory in nature. Has an "informal" status. Members need to be clear that this will not be a formally constituted body: it will have no 'official' or statutory duties and responsibilities. 
			  Waste specialists from all local authorities in the north-east region. The predominant focus will be on local authority performance issues. 
			  Environment Agency. Principal outcomes: 
			  Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit. Efficient and effective standing communications between DEFRA's Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) LA support and key regional local authority waste stakeholders. 
			  North East Regional Waste Awareness Initiative (NERWAI). A collective arena within which all regional bodies with a stake in improving LA recycling/recovery performance can meet to inform, engage, 'join up', reflect and propose. 
			  North East Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership. Positive development of the WIP LA support programme. More co-ordinated working of regional networks and Government support programmes. 
			  Premier Waste—waste management company. Content and Structure of Meetings: 
			  SITA UK—recycling and waste management company. An exclusively Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) focus, though this can include other waste streams, providing the impact on municipal waste is evidenced. 
			  Groundwork UK—environmental regeneration charity. Local authority performance orientated. 
			   Concentrate on issues pertinent to WIP LA support (e.g. early review of emerging projects and tools, development of new project ideas). However, other WIP streams and issues with an explicit regional dimension will also need to be coordinated with the Regional Technical Advisory Board on waste's (RTAB's) responsibilities (e.g. New Technologies, regional market development, land use planning etc.). 
			   Emphasis on action and implementation, not a general policy forum, although policy issues cannot be excluded where they have an overt implementation angle. 
			   Seeking to secure the most comprehensive regional dissemination and feedback. 
			
			 East Midlands None East Midlands does not have a WRAG. 
			
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber (Chair). To support local authorities and other partners in achieving improved performance on waste issues. 
			  Local Authorities. To act as a voice for Y&H Region with DEFRA and other national organisations and to be a mechanism to influence and support the implementation of DEFRA and other policy within the region. 
			  Local Government Yorkshire and Humber. Co-ordinating input to other regional forums and develop good communication links with them e.g. RTAB and RIWMS, Yorkshire Forward 
			  Environment Agency. Seek opportunities to share best practise and strengthen partnership working and networks and influence emerging projects and initiatives, including developing the most effective and efficient mechanism for regional dissemination. 
			  LARAC.  
			  Yorkshire Forward.  
			  Resources North.  
			  Resource Efficiency Yorkshire.  
			
			 South East None South East does not have a WRAG. 
			 South West None South West does not have a WRAG. 
			
			 North West The NW WRAG is chaired by GONW and comprised of representatives. The WRAG Remit includes: 
			  From: Government Office for the North West (chair and secretariat). A Strategic Focus on Municipal Waste in the NW and on Local Authority waste performance. 
			  Regional Technical advisory body 4NW regional leaders forum. Addressing issues relevant to DEFRA's waste implementation programme (WIP) (e.g. early review of emerging projects and tools, development of new project ideas). 
			  North West Development Agency The co-ordination of other WIP streams and issues with an explicit regional dimension (e.g. new technologies, regional market development, land use planning etc.). 
			  Environment Agency. Maximising regional dissemination of WIP to stakeholders through regional and sub-regional partnerships. 
			  3 x waste disposal authorities (including at least 1 Joint WDA). Collective feedback to DEFRA on consultations and emerging policies. 
			  5 x waste collection authorities (one per county area). Regional input to European, national and regional waste strategies, regional spatial strategy and emerging single regional strategy. 
			  Representation from five unitary authorities Joint consideration of appropriate bids for any future partnership funding e.g. WRAP and other DEFRA LA Waste funding and other funding providers. 
			  NWRF (North West Recycling Forum). Engage with/organise regional events, lever funding for seminars, workshops and conferences. 
			  WRAP (waste and resources action programme). The role of the WRAG is evolving in response to changes in the background against which the WRAG operates, notably in relation to regional governance. Partners in the region continue to see a need for the WRAG; and the group is currently involved in developing a programme of support to local delivery partners with the NW improvement and efficiency partnership. 
			  DEFRA WIP (as appropriate) CIWM.  
			  LARAC (local authority recycling committee).  
			  NW improvement and efficiency partnership

Blood: Safety

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what process his Department follows for approving medical products designed to ensure the safety of blood prior to their adoption for use by the National Blood Service;
	(2)  how many CE-marked medical products have subjected by his Department to efficacy and safety validation procedures in addition to those performed by manufacturers in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009 to date.

Gillian Merron: The Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) which is the Competent Authority in the United Kingdom for medical devices does not approve medical devices designed to ensure the safety of blood before they are placed on the market. Manufacturers of such medical devices must meet the relevant essential requirements in the Medical Devices directives prior to signing a declaration of conformity and CE marking their products.
	Such higher risk medical devices must obtain an EC Certificate of Conformity from a Notified Body as part of this conformity assessment process. As such MHRA has not carried out any safety or validation procedures on any CE marked medical devices in addition to those carried out by the manufacturer. Since the UK Blood Services have a legal responsibility to ensure the quality and safety of blood products, the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (MSBTO) also recommended that clinical trials be carried out, using blood which had been subjected to prion filtration. The independent Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs replaced MSBTO in 2008.

Blood: Safety

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the P-Capt prion filter has been subjected to safety and efficacy tests additional to those performed by the manufacturer by his Department.

Gillian Merron: The Government's independent expert scientific committee on variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies), the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, recommended that the UK Blood Services should commission an independent validation of such products. The UK Blood Services have commissioned an independent assessment of the efficacy of the filter.
	Quality studies on filtered blood are being conducted in accordance with UK Blood Services guidelines.
	The need for safety studies was endorsed by the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs in 2006.

Climate Change

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of his Department's potential gross  (a) costs and  (b) savings arising from its climate change adaptation measures in the next three years.

Phil Hope: It is not currently possible to provide estimates of the potential costs and savings over the next three years. It has, however, been shown in the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change that timely and well-targeted climate adaptation measures will yield benefits in excess of their costs. The main rationale for investment to address climate risk will be to reduce the United Kingdom's vulnerability to longer-term climate change impacts.
	The Government are undertaking a Climate Change Risk Assessment and Economic Analysis, which will provide estimates of the costs and benefits of adaptation to the UK. This analysis will be presented to Parliament within three years of the Climate Change Act coming in to force.

Epilepsy: Health Services

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to provide guidance on service improvement to those parts of the NHS engaged in the delivery of services to patients with epilepsy.

Ann Keen: Following my meeting with the all-party Parliamentary group on epilepsy on 19 May, I have asked officials to work with epilepsy groups to consider what additional support is needed to improve the commissioning of epilepsy services in those areas of the country where services are not meeting the standards expected within the national health service.
	This work will build on earlier guidance to the NHS, including the national service framework for long-term conditions and the clinical guideline the Department commissioned from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on the diagnosis and management of the epilepsies in adults and children in primary and secondary care.

MRSA: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cases of MRSA in the East of England region have been reported to his Department in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many cases of MRSA in Luton and Dunstable Hospital have been reported to his Department in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. The data are only available by financial year and the earliest period available is 2001-02.
	Since April 2001, all acute national health service trusts in England are obliged to report all cases of bloodstream infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
	The following data comprise of all specimens processed by NHS acute trust laboratories, not just those from in-patients and include infections acquired in hospital and elsewhere.
	
		
			  Number of cases of bloodstream infections caused by MRSA 
			  April to March each year  East of England  Luton and Dunstable Foundation Trust 
			 2001-02 662 22 
			 2002-03 607 28 
			 2003-04 678 21 
			 2004-05 725 19 
			 2005-06 678 32 
			 2006-07 529 21 
			 2007-08 333 15

Osteoporosis: Health Education

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to encourage young people to take action to reduce their chances of having  (a) osteoporosis and  (b) fragility fractures in later life.

Ann Keen: A healthy lifestyle, including weight bearing exercise and following a balanced diet, can help to increase bone mineral density and protect against osteoporosis and the risk of fragility fractures in later life.
	The Department is working closely with the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to address healthy lifestyles for children and young people on a variety of key health issues including exercise and diet. Holistic health initiatives such as the Healthy Schools Programme and the Healthy Further Education Programme are ensuring that progress continues to be made to develop healthy lifestyles among children and young people.
	The Society-wide movement, Change 4 Life, will also help children and their families become healthier by improving diets and levels of activity.

Osteoporosis: Males

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve treatment of men who  (a) have osteoporosis and  (b) are at high risk of fragility fractures.

Ann Keen: The forthcoming prevention package for older people will include a focus on best practice for commissioning falls prevention and care for people with fractures and will support local national health service and social care organisations to improve services for falls, fractures and osteoporosis. We will continue to review the evidence and opportunity for improved services in this area.
	A healthy lifestyle, including weight bearing exercise and following a healthy diet, is a key element of managing osteoporosis. The Society-wide movement, Change 4 Life, will help people become healthier by improving diets and levels of activity.

Strokes

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cases of stroke there were in  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group in North Devon in each year since 1999;
	(2)  how many  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group under the age of 50 years were diagnosed as having had a stroke in each year since 1999.

Ann Keen: The following tables and notes show how many finished admission episodes for stroke, broken down by age group and sex for the years 1999-2000 to 2007-08 and how many finished admission episodes for stroke in Devon Primary Care Trust (PCT) broken down by age group and sex.
	
		
			  Count of finished admission episodes for stroke( 1)  in Devon PCT, broken down by age group and sex, for the years 1999-2000 to 2007-08: Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Sex  Age group  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03  2001-02  2000-01  1999-2000 
			  Male 0-9 * * * * * 6 0 0 * 
			  10-19 0 * * * * * * * 0 
			  20-29 * * * * * * 7 6 * 
			  30-39 13 8 * 12 11 15 10 18 9 
			  40-49 31 45 25 21 27 31 20 22 19 
			  50-59 61 71 69 78 77 64 89 61 56 
			  60-69 179 129 121 132 128 121 118 133 149 
			  70-79 268 277 268 232 250 264 302 300 340 
			  80-89 298 302 285 261 284 229 230 219 245 
			  90+ 70 76 70 68 43 60 39 45 39 
			  Unknown * * 9 * * 0 0 0 0 
			
			  Female 0-9 * * 0 * * * 0 0 * 
			  10-19 0 * * * 0 * 0 * * 
			  20-29 * * * 11 * * * * * 
			  30-39 11 * 11 9 12 17 6 8 8 
			  40-49 29 23 16 16 34 23 32 19 26 
			  50-59 43 48 43 54 30 54 55 60 53 
			  60-69 114 85 93 100 82 81 80 98 98 
			  70-79 248 255 269 236 240 243 260 315 292 
			  80-89 453 469 430 413 406 400 422 427 390 
			  90+ 173 142 178 200 164 141 126 127 134 
			  Unknown 9 * 13 6 * 0 0 0 0 
			  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. 
		
	
	
		
			  Count of finished admission episodes for stroke( l) , broken down by age group and sex, for the years 1999- 20 00 to 2007-08 in England: Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Sex  Age group  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03  2001-02  2000-01  1999-2000 
			  Male 0-9 163 158 163 154 145 136 97 117 153 
			  10-19 113 119 164 141 133 175 135 112 110 
			  20-29 347 322 291 269 305 278 325 265 279 
			  30-39 814 899 897 862 852 809 867 760 681 
			  40-49 2,312 2,364 2,244 2,296 2,118 2,038 1,904 1,840 1,877 
			  50-59 4,383 4,616 4,718 4,837 4,633 4,640 4,595 4,346 4,517 
			  60-69 7,891 7,683 7,877 8,106 8,140 8,207 8,079 8,202 8,680 
			  70-79 11,670 11,718 12,628 12,332 12,798 13,268 13,315 13,633 14,990 
			  80-89 10,208 10,340 10,447 10,114 10,431 10,407 9,951 9,429 9,444 
			  90+ 1,910 1,938 1,951 1,791 1,782 1,750 1,540 1,451 1,372 
			  Unknown 13 49 12 11 13 96 38 103 50 
			
			  Female 0-9 119 83 86 95 80 85 61 67 74 
			  10-19 76 107 100 149 77 84 89 83 72 
			  20-29 274 264 277 253 279 279 254 270 301 
			  30-39 703 792 746 779 759 788 716 755 776 
			  40-49 1,918 1,801 1,774 1,959 1,692 1,754 1,616 1,544 1,619 
			  50-59 2,887 3,055 3,203 3,224 3,245 3,304 3,161 3,036 3,236 
			  60-69 5,135 4,986 5,281 5,543 5,481 5,554 5,408 5,772 6,222 
			  70-79 10,439 10,828 11,822 11,611 12,133 12,731 12,857 13,252 14,773 
			  80-89 15,858 16,255 16,608 16,867 17,004 17,340 16,708 16,497 16,823 
			  90+ 5,583 5,653 5,933 5,650 5,563 5,506 5,023 4,837 4,826 
			  Unknown 34 64 18 18 9 122 50 77 47 
			
			  Other /Unknown 0-9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 
			  10-19 0 0 3 0 0 0 o 1 0 
			  20-29 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C 
			  30-39 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 
			  40-49 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 
			  50-59 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 2 10 
			  60-69 1 2 C 1 1 1 0 6 9 
			  70-79 2 1 3 2 0 2 2 10 27 
			  80-89 1 5 3 1 3 3 2 10 43 
			  90+ 1 3 1 2 0 1 0 5 10 
			  Unknown 2 0 0 0 0 0 44 1 1 
			 (1) The following ICD-10 codes have been used: 160 Subarachnoid haemorrhage 161 Intracerebral haemorrhage 162 Other nontraumatic intracranial haemorrhage 163 Cerebral infarction 164 Stroke, not specified as haemorrhage or infarction  Notes:  Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.  Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  PCT/strategic health authority (SHA) data quality PCT and SHA data was added to historic data years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of treatment and SHA of treatment is poor in 1996-97,1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of GP practice and SHA of General practitioners practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data.  Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in national health service practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.  Small numbers To protect patient confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced with "*" (an asterisk). Where it was possible to identify numbers from the total due to a single suppressed number in a row or column, an additional number (the next smallest) has been suppressed.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Tranquillisers

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2009,  Official Report, columns 1228-30W, on tranquillisers, in what format information on the number of in-patient prescriptions dispensed is held.

Mike O'Brien: The extract of the Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index held by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care only shows the total volume (in terms of packs) issued from hospital pharmacy departments in a month. Reporting the total number of packs for selected drugs has little meaning as pack sizes can differ for the same drug or between different drugs. The Department is unable to state the number of prescriptions dispensed or supplied for patients. In addition, the number of patients treated with each pack is not known as a pack could be used to treat one patient or more.

Children: Day Care

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) out-of-school and  (b) holiday play schemes for children there were in (i) North East Lincolnshire and (ii) North Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: Table 1 shows the number of out of school clubs in North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire in each of the last five years for which data was collected. The last year that Ofsted collected this information was 2008. Information on the number of holiday play schemes is not available as Ofsted do not collect this data.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number( 1,2)  of out of school clubs for children under eight years of age 
			   Local authority area 
			  Position at 31 March each year :  North East Lincolnshire  North Lincolnshire 
			 2004 20 20 
			 2005 20 20 
			 2006 30 20 
			 2007 30 20 
			 2008 20 30 
			 (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100 if over 100. (2) Data Source: Ofsted

Integrated Children's System

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 540-41W, on the integrated children's system, who developed the requirements for local authorities to procure systems from IT suppliers to support the delivery of the model.

Dawn Primarolo: The ICS requirements were originally produced as part of the Quality Protects Management Information project, by a team comprising Department of Health (latterly, following machinery of government changes, Department for Education and Skills) officials, local authority officers, and academics working in collaboration. Frontline social workers and managers were involved in development through consultative workshops and local trialling of materials. Commercial suppliers of children's social care systems were also consulted and informed.
	In order to learn about the processes involved in the provision of children's social care services the Department of Health consulted with local authorities and policy specialists. This enabled them to structure the broad information requirements in a logical, systematic way.
	The requirements have been subsequently updated by the DCSF, through a collaboration of policy and practice advisers with frontline social work experience and contracted specialists with knowledge of the production of industry-standard requirements documentation. The most recent requirements have taken account of technical queries raised at earlier stages by local authority officers, and were partly informed by a dedicated workshop with a number of local authority officers involved in ICS implementation.

Schools: Standards

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what results each local authority in England achieved against the criteria included in the National Challenge in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what percentage of children met the criteria in each such year; what percentage of children were entitled to free school meals in each local education authority (LEA) in each such year, ranked from highest to lowest; what rank each authority achieved in each of the criteria included in the National Challenge; and for each local education authority what its rank order number was against the  (a) National Challenge and  (b) free school meals criterion.

Diana Johnson: The current National Challenge set to each maintained mainstream schools is for more than 30 per cent. of their Key Stage 4 cohort to achieve five or more GCSEs at A*-C or the equivalent including the subjects of English and mathematics.
	This indicator is only available for 2006 and onwards although data for free school meals eligibility is available for the requested years.
	The available data has been placed in the House Libraries.

Schools: Standards

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools which achieved a rating of good or outstanding in their last Ofsted inspection received a rating of satisfactory or inadequate for behaviour.

Vernon Coaker: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, 13 May 2009:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	The 'inadequate' inspection outcome was introduced in September 2005 as part of a four-point scale: outstanding, good, satisfactory, inadequate. Therefore, only schools which have been inspected under the current inspection framework have been included in this analysis.
	Since the introduction of the current framework, no schools have been judged to have outstanding or good overall effectiveness and inadequate behaviour. One school was judged to have outstanding overall effectiveness and satisfactory behaviour at its most recent inspection, while 185 schools were judged to have good overall effectiveness and satisfactory behaviour at their most recent inspection.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to the right hon. Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.

Young People: Databases

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) records and  (b) data fields there are in (i) the National Pupil Database, (ii) ContactPoint, (iii) the Common Assessment Framework and eCAF, (iv) the Integrated Children's System, (v) the Wiring Up Youth Justice system, (vi) the Youth Offender Information System, (vii) RAISE, (viii) the Universal Monitoring and Evaluation Information System, (ix) the ASSET Young Offender Assessment Profile and (x) Onset.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department for Children, Schools and Families is responsible for (i) the National Pupil Database, (ii) ContactPoint, (iii) the Common Assessment Framework and eCAF, and (iv) the Integrated Children's System.
	The YJB, DCSF and MOJ jointly sponsor Wiring Up Youth Justice (v), which is a programme, not a system for holding data. The Youth Offender Information System (vi), RAISE (vii), and the Universal Monitoring and Evaluation Information System (viii), are commercially supplied, local authority based systems, which the YJB monitors and has some limited influence on. The Youth Justice Board, an executive agency jointly sponsored by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Ministry of Justice, is responsible for the ASSET Young Offender Assessment Profile (xi) and Onset (x), which are national assessment tools, and not electronic systems for holding data.
	I am able to provide the following information.
	 National Pupil Database
	As an indication of the number of records in The National Pupil Database, there were around 7.3 million full-time equivalent pupils in state funded primary, secondary and special schools in 2008.
	The National Pupil Database is a longitudinal database linking pupil and student characteristics to school and college learning aims and attainment information for all children in maintained schools in England since 2002. The National Pupil Database also holds individual-pupil level attainment data for pupils in non-maintained and independent schools who partake in the tests or examinations.
	The National Pupil Database holds pupil and school characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, attendance and exclusions (sourced from the School Census) for maintained schools only, matched to pupil-level attainment data (Foundation Stage Profile, Key Stage assessments and external examinations) collected from schools and local authorities by the Department, the National Assessment Agency and awarding bodies. The number of data items included for each pupil will depend on where they are in the education cycle and on which tests and examinations they have taken.
	 ContactPoint
	In March 2009 there were 12.4 million records on ContactPoint with a further 445 thousand records in the archive. ContactPoint has a number of data fields which contain information supplied by each data source. Some fields can hold multiple entries, for example where two addresses are known. Some fields hold information calculated by the system rather than supplied by data sources and some are considered metadata, such as verification levels and the date last updated.
	 eCAF
	The national eCAF system is currently under development and not yet at the stage where  (a) the number of records or  (b) the number of data fields that will be held in the system can be defined.
	 The Integrated Children's System
	The Integrated Children's System is a set of requirements that guide local authorities in implementing their local children's social care case management systems. Each local authority is separately responsible for its own IT systems and case records, and information on these is not held centrally.
	 Wiring Up Youth Justice programme
	The Wiring Up Youth Justice programme (WuYJ) is a business change programme of projects that improves the ability of YOTs, the YJB and the secure estate to electronically access and exchange information that is already held in existing case management systems. As such, it is not a system where data is stored. However, WuYJ is developing the Youth Justice Management Information System, which from 2009/10 will store limited data extracted by YOTs from UMIS, YOIS and Raise. It is replacing the Themis system which previously carried out this function.
	 The Youth Offending Information System
	The Youth Offending Information System (YOIS) is a case management system developed and marketed by CACI (formerly Social Software Ltd), and made available to local authorities to purchase on behalf of their youth offending teams. Over one hundred local authorities have purchased licences to use this system.
	 RAISE
	The RAISE system (also known as Careworks YOT) is a case management system developed and marketed by Careworks Ltd. and made available to local authorities to purchase on behalf of their youth offending teams. Over 40 local authorities have purchased licences to use this system.
	 Universal Monitoring and Evaluation Information System (UMIS)
	UMIS is an advanced information management system developed and marketed by CACI (formerly Social Software Ltd.) for use by all services involved in the field of prevention. It records the whole intervention process from observations and concerns, through to referral, assessment, panel, intervention and evaluation, providing an overview of the work undertaken with the child, young person or family so this can be evaluated on an ongoing basis and help point to how better outcomes can be achieved in the future.
	 Asset
	Research commissioned by the Youth Justice Board has established the main risk factors that lead to youth offending and also the protective factors that can prevent it. Asset provides a common, structured framework for assessment of all young people involved in the criminal justice system. It is a standard national assessment tool of the factors contributing to a young person's offending. Asset details are recorded on YOIS or RAISE. Asset is a national assessment tool, not a system.
	 Onset
	The Onset referral and assessment framework was designed by the Centre for Criminological Research, University of Oxford for the YJB and was piloted by the 13 pilot youth inclusion and support panels.
	Onset promotes the Youth Justice Board's prevention strategy by helping to identify risk factors to be reduced and protective factors to be enhanced. It also provides information which might be helpful in selecting appropriate interventions for those identified as needing early intervention.
	When collated, the information on Onset can be used for monitoring, as well as targeting specific sub-groups where applicable, or providing progress data to steering groups. The new prevention counting rules require all Youth Justice Board-funded prevention programmes to use Onset as the basis for their referral and assessment mechanisms. Onset details are recorded on UMIS and RAISE. Onset is a national assessment tool, not a system.
	More detailed information about these systems is not held centrally and it would far exceed the cost threshold to collect and collate it.

Coroners: Operating Costs

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse was of the operation of coroners' courts in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice does not have any operational responsibility for the coroner service. The costs of operating coroners' courts are shared between coroners' respective local authorities and police authorities, and no costing information is kept centrally by this Department. Data collected by Communities and Local Government gives total revenue spending by local authorities on the coroner service over the last five years as:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 46.00 
			 2004-05 50.98 
			 2005-06 54.21 
			 2006-07 59.08 
			 2007-08 66.26 
		
	
	These figures do not include capital spending by local authorities or costs incurred by police forces, for which no data are available.

Coroners: South West

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources available to coroners' offices in the Devon and Cornwall Police Authority area.

Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice does not have operational responsibility for the coroner service and does not undertake assessments of resources available to coroners. This is a matter for individual coroners to negotiate with their local and police authorities.
	Nevertheless discussions are taking place in Devon and Cornwall including for example with HMCS over the possibility of using court facilities.

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 have been sought in each of the last 10 years; and how many such prosecutions were successful.

Claire Ward: The number of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for the offence of 'Depositing litter' under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sec.87, in England and Wales, 1998 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the table.
	These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Number of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for the offence of 'Depositing litter' under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sec.  87, England and Wales, 1998 to 2007( 1,)( )( 2) 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 1998 494 377 
			 1999 501 390 
			 2000(3) 466 333 
			 2001 457 334 
			 2002 332 256 
			 2003 551 406 
			 2004 908 645 
			 2005 1,447 1,017 
			 2006 2,022 1,340 
			 2007 3,063 2,303 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty Is Imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, It is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Source:  OCJR—E and A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice

HM Courts Service: Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much HM Courts Service spent on consultants in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: HMCS came into existence in April 2005 and therefore figures prior to this date are not available.
	
		
			  Consultancy spend full year  HMCS (£ million) 
			 2005-06 4.9 
			 2006-07 3.3 
			 2007-08 4.7 
		
	
	Data for April 2008 to March 2009 are currently unavailable. A manual data collection exercise for this period are scheduled to commence in the summer of 2009 with a target date for the availability of the data set of 31 October 2009.

Parole Board

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many cases the Parole Board considered in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of offenders were granted oral hearings by the Parole Board in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09;
	(3)  how many of the offenders who were granted oral hearings by the Parole Board were subsequently granted parole in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09.

Jack Straw: In 2007-08 the Parole Board considered a total of 31,172 cases. Approximately 8 per cent. were considered by oral hearing, which equates to 2,072 three member hearings and 459 one member hearings. Of those a total of 16 per cent. of offenders were recommended for release.
	In 2008-09 the Parole Board considered a total of 28,596 cases. Approximately 10 per cent. were considered by oral hearing, which equates to 2,335 three member hearings and 422 one member hearings. Of those a total of 16 per cent. of offenders were recommended for release.

Prisoners Release

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were granted compassionate release in each of the last five years.

Jack Straw: The numbers of prisoners who were granted permanent early release on compassionate grounds in each of the last five years is shown in the following tables. The data is split between prisoners serving fixed-term sentences (where the data is collected by calendar year) and those serving indeterminate sentences (where the data is collected by financial year).
	
		
			  Determinate  sentenced prisoners 
			   Fixed-term prisoners 
			 2004 4 
			 2005 11 
			 2006 7 
			 2007 5 
			 2008 7 
			 Total 34 
		
	
	
		
			  Indeterminate  sentenced prisoners 
			   Number 
			 2004-05 4 
			 2005-06 2 
			 2006-07 2 
			 2007-08 4 
			 2008-09 2 
			 Total 14 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from internal records and the Public Protection Unit Database in the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording systems, they are subject to possible errors with data migration and processing.

Restorative Justice

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the  (a) community and  (b) custody caseload of the Probation Service was in March in each of the last five financial years.

Jack Straw: The total community and pre-release custodial offender caseload for England and Wales as at 31 March in each of the last five years was as follows:
	
		
			   Supervised in community( 1)  Supervised in custody 
			 2004 144,076 61,110 
			 2005 151,443 61,799 
			 2006 166,557 63,697 
			 2007 173,400 66,347 
			 2008 178,652 67,535 
			 (1) Includes those supervised on court orders as well as post-release supervision. 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made.

Kevin Brennan: None.

Departmental Training

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2009,  Official Report, column 697W, on departmental training, which Minister took part in  (a) training on the European Union,  (b) training on Cabinet Committees,  (c) foreign language lessons and  (d) media training; what each course involved; when each course took place; and what the total cost of each session was.

Kevin Brennan: Identifying Ministers who undertake training would, or would be likely to, discourage participation in future training sessions, acting as a disincentive for Ministers to undertake formal professional development.
	The Cabinet Committee and European Union courses incurred no cost to the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills. The short briefing session on each topic was delivered by the National School of Government in September 2008. The first covered an overview of cabinet committee processes. The EU session similarly looked at structures, processes hierarchy and the relationship with Whitehall.
	The foreign language lessons have cost £1,343 to date. These lessons in Italian have taken place weekly since October 2008.
	The media training course involved two sessions in April 2008. The overall cost for the two sessions was £1,276. The course looked at developing skills to communicate the Minister's remit in a particular area.
	All of these courses were one-to-one sessions delivered to Ministers.

Learning and Skills Council

Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills who from his Department attended the reviews between Ministers and the Learning and Skills Council's Chairman and Chief Executive held on  (a) 16 June 2008,  (b) 21 October 2008 and  (c) 16 December 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: Review meetings are held jointly with the Department for Children Schools and Families. Each meeting is chaired by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Further Education, and attended by the director of the Department's Learning and Skills Performance Directorate. Other Ministers and officials from both Departments also attend depending on the agenda.

Learning and Skills Council

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 12 May 2009,  Official Report, column 672W, on the Learning and Skills Council, how much each lease held by the  (a) Learning and Skills Council and  (b) Higher Education Funding Council for England cost in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Kevin Brennan: The following table illustrates the lease paid from April 2008 to March 2009 for each building occupied by the Learning and Skills Council and Higher Education Funding Council.
	
		
			  April 2008-March 2009 
			   Lease paid (excluding VAT) 
			  The Learning and Skills Council  
			 Woburn Court, 2 Railton Road, Woburn Road Ind Estate, Kempston, MK42 7PN 51,000 
			 Pacific House, Imperial Way, Reading, RG2 0TF 303,996 
			 NTI Building, 15 Bartholomew Row, Birmingham, B5 5JU 526,590 
			 Units 6 and 7 Castle Court, 2 Castlegate Business Park, Dudley, DY1 4RD 69,344 
			 Provincial House, 25 Oxford Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8EY 143,650 
			 Stuart House, St Johns Street, City Road, Peterborough, PE1 5DD 160,445 
			 Dalton House, Dalton Way, Middlewich, CW10 0HU 25,272 
			 Allergate House, Belmont Business Park, Belmont, Durham, DH1 1TW 125,000 
			 Oak Tree Court, Binley Business Park, Harry Weston Road, Coventry, CV3 2UN 176,375 
			 Venture/Progress House, Regents Court, Guard Street, Workington, CA14 4EW 73,000 
			 1 Mallard Way, Pullman Business Park, Derby, DE24 8GX 49,000 
			 Foliot House, Budshead Road, Plymouth, PL6 5XR 165,000 
			 Penhaligon House, Princes Street, Truro, TR1 1DZ 50,400 
			 Richmond Court, Emperor Way, Exeter Business Park, Exeter, EX1 3QS 21,250 
			 Redwing House, Hedgerows Business Park, Colchester Road, Chelmsford, CM2 5PB 288,270 
			 Conway House, 33-35 Worcester Street, Gloucester, GL1 3AJ 198,750 
			 Eagle Point, Segensworth, Fareham, P015 5TD 285,500 
			 5 Brook Court, Whittington Hall, Whittington Road, Worcester, WR5 2ZX 72,269 
			 Grosvenor Road, 45 Grosvenor Road, St Albans, AL1 3 AW 940,705 
			 4 Earls Court, Henry Boot Way, Hull, HU4 7DY 52,149 
			 26 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Mailing, ME19 4AE 180,000 
			 Citigate, Longridge Road, Preston, PR2 5BQ 52,300 
			 17a Meridian East, Meridian Business Park, Leicester, LEI9 1UU 208,949 
			 Alpha Court, Unit IB, Alpha Court Business Park, Kingsley Road, Lincoln, LN6 3TA 40,625 
			 Centre Point, 103 New Oxford Street, London, WC1A 1DR 1,062,748 
			 Boardman House, 64 The Broadway, Stratford, London, El5 INT 232,115 
			 Dumayne House, 1 Fox Lane, Palmers Green, London, N13 4AB 295,610 
			 Canius House, 1 Scarbrook Road, Croydon, CRO 1SQ 269,000 
			 Central House, 3 Lampton Road, Hounslow, TW3 1HY 235,345 
			 Arndale House, Arndale Centre, Manchester, M4 3AQ 423,580 
			 The Plaza, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9QJ 87,372 
			 Latimer House, Langford Business Park, Langford Locks, Kidlington, 0X5 1GG 265,600 
			 Cheylesmore House North, Quinton Road, Cheylesmore, Coventry, CV1 2WT 610,620 
			 Cheylesmore House South, Quinton Road, Cheylesmore, Coventry, CV1 2WT 1,000,000 
			 Security House, Mile Lane, Cheylesmore, Coventry, CV21 2NL 24,658 
			 Lakeside 500, Old Chapel Way, Broadland Business Park, Norwich, NR7 OWG 52,650 
			 Royal Pavilion, Summerhouse Road, Moulton Park Ind Estate, Northampton, NN3 6BJ 266,500 
			 7 Pioneer Business Park, Amy Johnson Way, Clifton Moorgate, York, YO30 4TN 97,465 
			 C/O MLS Business Centre, City Gate East, Toll House Hill, Nottingham, NGl 5FY 122,055 
			 Hollinswood House, Suite Gl, Stafford Court, Telford, TF3 3DD 24,300 
			 Kingston House, Blackbrook Park Avenue, Taunton, TA1 2PX 48,527 
			 The Straddle, Victoria Quays, Wharf Street, Sheffield, S2 5SY 335,000 
			 Festival Way, Festival Park, Stoke-On-Trent, ST1 5TQ 69,700 
			 Felaw Makings, 42 Felaw Street, Ipswich, IP2 8SJ 133,925 
			 Technology House, 48-54 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6LE 178,416 
			 Princes House, 53 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XB 332,972 
			 Wynyard House, Wynyard Park, Billingham,TS22 5TB 65,088 
			 Moongate House, 5th Avenue Business Park, Team Valley, Gateshead, NEl1 OHF 210,000 
			 St Lawrence House, 29-31 Broad Street, Bristol, BS1 2HF 261,472 
			 Mercury House, 4 Manchester Road, Bradford, BD5 OQL 422,000 
			 The Bora Building, Westlea Campus, Westlea Down, Swindon, SN5 7EZ 192,300 
			   
			  Higher Education Funding Council for England  
			 Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QD 739,241 
			 12th Floor Centre Point 03 New Oxford Street LONDON WC1A 1DD 205,590

Overseas Students: Fees and Charges

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how much has been received by universities in fees from foreign students taught in higher education institutions in each year since 2006;
	(2)  when he plans to answer question 269161, tabled on 1 April 2009, on fees received from foreign students taught in higher education institutions.

David Lammy: The latest published information on course fees paid by non-EU domiciled students is shown in the table. This is the only centrally-held information available regarding institutions' income from foreign students. This is shown alongside the total income of higher education institutions in England.
	
		
			  Non-EU domiciled students HE course fees and total income English higher education institutions, academic year 2006/07 and 2007/08 
			   £  000 
			   Non-EU domiciled course fees  Total income 
			 2006/07 1,472,893 17,591,618 
			 2007/08 1,619,689 19,400,191 
			  Source:  Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student finance record.